Evo cat food

So I started Fabby on some Evo cat food tonight. And she was ON it. I mean jumping up on top of the hamper where the bag was while I was opening it. I think she didn't think it was for her (As I fed her the low carb Friskies first until she stopped eating it before she had eaten a serving size.) so she was trying to catch a crumb if I was clumsy with it. When I took the bowl with it over to where she eats, she didn't follow. She looked determined to stay with the newly opened bag waiting for me to turn my back. Sneaky little bugger. So I called her and shook the bowl and she came running, faster than she's moved in weeks I think, (except when she was sneaking the crystals boys food).

I have a lot of hopes tied up in this food...
I hope I can get the whole house on it, so I can leave it out for her to free feed and help self regulate.
I hope the higher carbs doesn't cause more problems that aren't directly visible.
I hope that this food is good for her, but also makes my life easier, because diabetes has been pretty all consuming lately.
I hope the crystals boys don't have any issues if/when we try to switch them to this too.

Has anyone used the Evo food for cats that have a history of struvite crystals?
It said on the Evo website it was good for that issue, but it's phosphorus count was higher than recommended for kitties with crystals history.
I have never had any desire to switch my crystals boys food. It took me a year... an entire year of constant monitoring, many vet visits, close calls, threats of surgery, and the crazy stress to get my older crystals boy regulated. If I mess with anything I may be looking at another year of that particular hell. But I'm to my breaking point. I need this to get easier on me.

So anyone got experience with Evo in this area? I'm looking for testimonials good or bad.

I've been told that EVO has been discontinued. But I haven't verified that.
So I am looking for a (cheap-ish) replacement.
EVO is about half the price of Diabetic Maintenance. (Science Diet?)

Addendum #2:

Here they talk about it being verified as all EVO discontinued and increasingly unavailable up through March 2018. (but no official announcement by the company for some reason -- people called the company and asked about it)

Recently Mars Petcare, the manufacturer of California Natural, EVO and INNOVA pet foods & treats, announced the discontinuation of the specific products listed below. If you're using one or more of these items it's time to start looking for other options to feed your dog or cat. To help you through this transition we've put together a list of dog and cat foods that meet the same standards for quality that you expect from these foods.

My cats loved EVO, but I had heard the same from our local pet food co-op; that the line had been discontinued after being bought out by a larger company. This was less than 2 months ago. I switched to Tiki Cat Born Carnivore and leave some out for them all to nosh on between wet food (fancy feast) feedings. They actually don’t eat a ton of it, and 1/4 cup split between a couple of dishes lasts close to 2 days. Unfortunately I don’t have nutrition info for it, and can only say it hasn’t adversely affected Vader’s blood sugar. But it may be worth looking into if Evo really has discontinued their line.

I've been told that EVO has been discontinued. But I haven't verified that.
So I am looking for a (cheap-ish) replacement.
EVO is about half the price of Diabetic Maintenance. (Science Diet?)

Addendum #2:

Here they talk about it being verified as all EVO discontinued and increasingly unavailable up through March 2018. (but no official announcement by the company for some reason -- people called the company and asked about it)

Recently Mars Petcare, the manufacturer of California Natural, EVO and INNOVA pet foods & treats, announced the discontinuation of the specific products listed below. If you're using one or more of these items it's time to start looking for other options to feed your dog or cat. To help you through this transition we've put together a list of dog and cat foods that meet the same standards for quality that you expect from these foods.

yeah that stinks, i was transitioning my cats from YA zero and 50/22 to all Evo since it was bulking up their stools and found out about EVO going to be discontinued in march when i couldn't find it in stock anywhere.
We are now trying out Wysong espigen 90, not cheap-ish but, about same price as a 6.6lb bag of evo if you buy on chewy but, you only get 5lbs worth. if you buy in bulk on the wysong site, and do the autoship you get 10% off so 4 bags come out to almost $21 per bag (or less depending how in bulk you buy).. it is only 5% carb so thats better than Evo. Can't say how cats are doing on it yet for we were having issues with loose stools with YA on and off (always with our 3 tortoise cats) and we are still mixing with YA but, i did notice a few of our cats are having greenish loose stools at our current 33% usage of wysong. coicendence i don't know yet but, all the cats seem to like the taste of wysong and were picking it and the rest of the evo out of the YA/evo/wysong mix.

Vader, the tiki cat born carnivore , chicken at least, is 22% dry matter carbs if Ash percentage is 3%.

It looks like they have it locally, maybe, at PetCo and PetSmart, but they are usually more expensive than online.
Unless the S&H adds a lot, but sometimes the S&H is zero for some reason.
I might be able to get it at my local feed stores, too. Sometimes they have good / decent prices.

It looks like they have it locally, maybe, at PetCo and PetSmart, but they are usually more expensive than online.
Unless the S&H adds a lot, but sometimes the S&H is zero for some reason.
I might be able to get it at my local feed stores, too. Sometimes they have good / decent prices.

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yikes, guess i was buying evo at the wrong places, i paid $49 with free ship for the 15.4lb bags of Evo and that was the autoship discounted price!

instinct on that link is called original but, is not really their 'original' formula, original didn't have peas in it. eitherway, version at link is not lower in carbs like past, it is around 25% carbs now, not good for our diabetic cats.. when you search for a new food, remember that just because a food says grain-free it doesn't mean it is low carbs at all.

if you must have a in store bought food, i know pet smart now sells 'only natural pet power poultry cat food', what i was feeding my cats before our cat got diagnosed, carbs on that is 18% dry matter carbs max but, that's with the guaranteed analysis, i do believe i recall it being actually less than that, closer to 12-13%. all cats liked it and almost all of them lost some weight on it (most needed it) since it filled them up. it is $29.99 for a 10lb bag at store however cheaper by 15% on petsmart site if you do the pick up at store but, even cheaper if you buy from ONP site itself for they have coupons/deals galore usually, i never paid more than $22 per bag there plus you get reward points. Would be best if you feed dry to a diabetic cat however that you choose a brand that is 10% or lower in carbs but, if you can't i think this is a pretty decent brand, my cats furs never looked so shiny and soft as they did when they were on this dry food and they had no digestive issues on it either..

The Dr. Elseys Chicken is low carb, the salmon has a bit too much carb. It uses gelatin as the binder, which is a protein. I bought some of it, it seems to do fine for my diabetic cat's blood sugar, but is quite expensive from Chewy.com. It seems to have less projectile effect on my cat's stool than the YA Zero does. I'd prefer that Tux eat 100% wet food, but after it's been out for an hour or so he won't have anything to do with it, so during the times of day I'm not here I have to put some kibble out so he can nibble. My cat cams show that he gets up every 4 hours or so to nibble on his cat food then drink some water.

Getting a cat feeder tomorrow, the round automated type where you pre-fill the bins (rather than the drop some kibble type), so that I can hopefully put some wet food out for him right before I leave for work and then not have it switch the dial to the dry food until a couple of hours later after the wet food is no longer appealing to him.

yikes, guess i was buying evo at the wrong places, i paid $49 with free ship for the 15.4lb bags of Evo and that was the autoship discounted price!

instinct on that link is called original but, is not really their 'original' formula, original didn't have peas in it. eitherway, version at link is not lower in carbs like past, it is around 25% carbs now, not good for our diabetic cats.. when you search for a new food, remember that just because a food says grain-free it doesn't mean it is low carbs at all. {snip}

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Yes. I wasn't thinking. It's zero grains, and claims "19% fruits, vegetables, and other wholesome ingredients".
Which MIGHT be 19% carbs, or it may not.
Supposedly you have to subtract the % fiber from the % carbs to get the real carbs #.

Yes. I wasn't thinking. It's zero grains, and claims "19% fruits, vegetables, and other wholesome ingredients".
Which MIGHT be 19% carbs, or it may not.
Supposedly you have to subtract the % fiber from the % carbs to get the real carbs #.

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19% fruit & vegetable does not mean there's automatically 19% carbs in food and you have other ingredients like starch/etc in foods that are also carbs too..

when you use a nutritional calculator, or add up label info. in your head, you already count the fiber carbs in your total of non-carbs, so you wouldn't subtract it again from the net carb total you basically get.. see calculator in link below. http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html

I've been using Epigen 90 for three years; EVO is going away. No more production. The cat and kitten dry is a big hit, so I need to find an alternative. And yes, cats should not eat dry food, I know, my bad...But with six and one with diabetes, I feed a mix of both. Do any of you feed Orijen?

I have fed Orijen. I now have one civi who eats little canned. She kinds liked the Evo dry Herring (did not really like the Chicken and Turkey). Se seems to like the Epigen 90 better. The Orijen are not really a hit. I have tried all the varieties. None are really that low in carbs

I called Evo recently too when it began to get impossible to find it.
I transitioned my civvies and crystal boys over to EVO hoping they would do well on it and Fabby could also have it once she was stable. The crystals boys got the all clear about a month into eating it, so I finally had confidence I could take them off the prescription food.
Then Fabby passed, but I kept everyone on EVO because now I am cat carb conscious and concerned about crystals. There aren't many foods that have a priority of low carbs and low phosphorus/magnesium. The ones there are happen to be super expensive. For one or even 2 cats that cost would be manageable, but I have several once the word got out in the neighborhood that if you show up on my door I will feed you and keep you warm.
So, we've since moved to Nutro, as I don't have to quite as restrictive on the carbs without Fabby's diabetes in the mix as a concern. It is 20% carbs, so if your sugar cat is well managed or does better on slightly higher carbs, this might be an option. It's better than the prescription food for the crystals boys in the way of phosphorus/magnesium content.
And it's close to the same cost of EVO. I think about $5 more.

I feel for all of you looking for a low carb option that is affordable.

The Dr. Elseys Chicken is low carb, the salmon has a bit too much carb. It uses gelatin as the binder, which is a protein. I bought some of it, it seems to do fine for my diabetic cat's blood sugar, but is quite expensive from Chewy.com. It seems to have less projectile effect on my cat's stool than the YA Zero does. I'd prefer that Tux eat 100% wet food, but after it's been out for an hour or so he won't have anything to do with it, so during the times of day I'm not here I have to put some kibble out so he can nibble. My cat cams show that he gets up every 4 hours or so to nibble on his cat food then drink some water.

Getting a cat feeder tomorrow, the round automated type where you pre-fill the bins (rather than the drop some kibble type), so that I can hopefully put some wet food out for him right before I leave for work and then not have it switch the dial to the dry food until a couple of hours later after the wet food is no longer appealing to him.

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Dr. Elseys dry food is supposed to have about 5% carb so that is low carb for a dry food. Purina DM has 18% carb. But my vet continually says it depends on the source of the carb.

I'm jumping in here on this old thread because now my Ricky has struvite crystals. He had been eating EVO. I also leave out Purina DM but he doesn't like that one. In fact he doesn't like Dr. Elseys or Epigen either. I am running out of ideas.

It looks like they have it locally, maybe, at PetCo and PetSmart, but they are usually more expensive than online.
Unless the S&H adds a lot, but sometimes the S&H is zero for some reason.
I might be able to get it at my local feed stores, too. Sometimes they have good / decent prices.

Click to expand...

Instinct has 43% protein where EVO had about 50%. I would think Instinct has more carbs. EVO had only around 5%. If it weren't for those two things it would be good. But my cat doesn't seem to really like anything right now.